USAFA, Colo. - Outscored 7-0 to open the game, the Air Force lacrosse team fell to seventh-ranked Notre Dame, 13-5, Tuesday afternoon at Cadet Lacrosse Stadium. With the loss, the Falcons drop to 3-8 on the season, 1-3 in the GWLL, while the Fighting Irish improve to 10-2 overall, 3-1 in the league.
Notre Dame opened the scoring at the 11:46 mark in the first period, notching four goals within a span of two and a half minutes. Another score by the Irish with just over three minutes remaining in the quarter gave Notre Dame the early 5-0 lead. Air Force’s deficit grew to seven following two more Notre Dame goals in the second period.
The Falcons finally got on the board with 5:27 remaining in the first half when long-stick midfielder Dan Gnazzo (Jr., Eden Prairie, Minn.) caused a Notre Dame turnover and responded with an unassisted goal. A minute and a half later, Colin Lockhart (Jr., Richmond, Va.) took an assist from K.J. Landgraf (Jr., Cordova, Md.) to cut the margin back down to five.
Unfortunately for Air Force, the Irish put together another scoring run to take a 13-2 advantage, tallying two goals to end the second period, outscoring Air Force 2-0 in the third period and notching the first two goals of the fourth quarter. The Falcons stopped the run with a score from Chris Tubesing (Sr., Centreville, Va.), assisted by Gnazzo, while senior David Rose (Allentown, Pa.) scored a man-up goal with 3:09 remaining. It appeared that 13-4 would be the final margin, until junior Griffin Nevitt (Charlotte, N.C.) sent a shot past the Notre Dame goalkeeper just as the horn sounded.
For the fourth-straight game, Air Force held the advantage on face-offs, winning 11-of-21, led by senior Reilly Smith (Scaggsville, Md.) who won all 11 face-offs for the Falcons. However, the Falcons’ man-up offense struggled, scoring on just 1-of-4 opportunities, while the Irish were 3-of-4 on the EMO.
Ten different players scored for the Fighting Irish, including Alex Wharton, Neal Hicks and Ryan Hoff with two goals each. Meanwhile, starting goalkeeper Joey Kemp tallied nine saves with just two goals against in over 50 minutes of action.
Air Force closes out the regular season this Saturday, April 26, when it hosts 18th-ranked Denver in a GWLL contest. Ten seniors will be honored prior to the game, which is slated to begin at 1:00 p.m. at Cadet Lacrosse Stadium.
No. 7 Notre Dame 13, Air Force 5
Notre Dame Scoring:
Goals: Alex Wharton 2, Neal Hicks 2, Ryan Hoff 2, Kelly McKenna, Dan Gibson, Grant Krebs, Michael Podgajny, Zach Brenneman, Peter Christman, Billy Maloney. Assists: Peter Christman 2, Zach Brenneman, Alex Wharton, David Earl, Duncan Swezey, Ryan Hoff, Neal Hicks.
Air Force Scoring:
Goals: Dan Gnazzo, Colin Lockhart, Chris Tubesing, David Rose, Griffin Nevitt. Assists: K.J. Landgraf, Dan Gnazzo.
Archive for April 22nd, 2008
STEAMBOAT SPRINGS, Colorado — It’s pretty easy to find a lot of similarities in the Battle Mountain and Steamboat Springs boys lacrosse teams.
Both being from mountain towns, the two teams make the best of fruitful spring weather. The two teams reap the benefits of thriving youth lacrosse programs and show potential to compete with larger, more established Front Range programs in years to come.
But maybe most importantly, and judging by Tuesday’s 12-6 Steamboat win, the two teams have a budding rivalry that should make the introduction of the Mountain League next year just that much more fun.
“It ought to be a lot of fun,” said Battle Mountain coach Bob Daino, whose Huskies are celebrating their inaugural year. “We’re brand new and have a long way to go, but these kids love the game and that’s half the battle.”
Lacrosse wants to be the next sport sanctioned by high schools in School District 51.
The Grand Valley Lacrosse Club is making a pitch at Tuesday night’s school board meeting.
The three-year-old club would like to play CHSAA-sponsored games beginning next spring.
The board, which is not expected to make an immediate decision on the matter, has some pros and cons to weigh before the Sept. 1 deadline to petition CHSAA about adding a spring sport.
At the top of the list of questions the board must address is whether adding another boys sport requires adding a girls sport so the district is in compliance with Title IX requirements.
Denver, CO – The Rocky Mountain Lacrosse Showdown, presented by the Denver Outlaws, INVESCO Field at Mile High Stadium and the Colorado State University Lacrosse Alumni Association, heads into its fifth edition with lots on the line for the April 26th meeting between the Colorado State Rams and Colorado Buffaloes. This Showdown will be the third held at INVESCO Field at Mile High Stadium and will pit two of the premier MCLA programs in the state of Colorado. In addition, this year will mark the first time a women’s collegiate lacrosse game takes place at Mile High as the CSU and CU women square off as well just before the men’s game. There will be more than school pride on the line in both of these games, as each team comes into the Showdown needing a win.
On the men’s side of things, neither the Rams nor the Buffaloes have enjoyed the success they are accustomed to so far in 2008. The Rams are in the midst of a 9-5 season and are ranked #7 in the MCLA while the Buffs are 3-5 and #16 in the country. CU absolutely needs a win in the regular season finale to give them a shot at the MCLA playoffs in May. The winner of this game will secure the #3 seed for the RMLC playoffs in Utah on May 2 and 3.
With four one-goal losses, the Colorado State men have endured their share of heartbreak in 2008. Dropping their opening game of the season to Division III Colorado College, the Rams have found themselves on the wrong end of three overtime contests this year. #19 Utah took the Rams down in a classic 5 overtime struggle earlier in the month and CSU lost in 2 overtimes to the #1 Michigan Wolverines as well. But the Rams also have solid victories over #3 Minnesota-Duluth, #10 Oregon and #12 Boston College on their resume, so things haven’t been all down this year.
The Colorado Buffaloes are in danger of missing the MCLA playoffs for the first time in nearly a decade. With a sparse schedule, the Buffs still have a chance to get over .500 and make the playoffs if they were to win the remainder of their games, which would include the Showdown and two victories in the RMLC playoffs. Losses to Oregon, Utah and Brigham Young have not helped the Buffs, but CU has defeated #19 Cal Poly and Arizona on the season, indicating that despite the light schedule load, there is still plenty of talent in Boulder. Colorado is always a dangerous and well-coached team and the Showdown has been circled on their calendar for months.
CSU is led in points by sophomore Kevin Wolff, who has 42 points on 26 goals and 16 assists so far this season. Freshman Paul Larson has 24 goals and 4 assists while senior Ryan MacDonald adds his 14 goals and 14 assists to the mix as well. The Rams are also led by two senior goaltenders as Garrett Fitzgerald and Tyson Ehinger have shared duties in the nets so far this season.
Colorado’s leading point-getter is freshman James Blackburn. Blackburn’s 26 points are far and away tops on a team that has only one other double digit point scorer in sophomore Ben Johns. While the scoring has been down this year, CU still has a stingy defense led by junior goaltender Kevin Moriarty. Moriarty is a team leader for the Buffaloes and would like nothing more than to knock off the rival Rams for the first time in his career.
The Colorado State women have been rolling right along this season, compiling an impressive 16-1 record and a #2 national ranking. Their only loss of the season was at the hands of #1 UC-Santa Barbara in their first game of the season and the Rams have already defeated the Buffaloes 11-6 in Fort Collins last month. With the RMWLL championships taking place a week before the Showdown, CSU and CU could very well meet the week before the event and will know all about each other by the time they face off at INVESCO. Colorado’s women have plenty to be proud of as well in 2008. With an 11-2 record that features losses to only the #1 and #2 teams in the country, the Buffs are having a very nice season and find themselves ranked #5.
The Showdown takes place on April 26th and kicks off with the CSU and CU women at 5:00 pm. The men’s game is slotted for 7:00 pm, or 30 minutes after the women’s game finishes up. A great crowd is expected and both games will be a showcase for lacrosse. Tickets are available at TicketMaster or at the box office. Students and families for both teams will be able to purchase tickets directly from their schools. Please visit the Showdown website at www.lacrosseshowdown.com.
